dairy

noun

ˈder-ē 

plural dairies

often attributive

1

: a room, building, or establishment where milk is kept and butter or cheese is made

2

a

: the department of farming or of a farm that is concerned with the production of milk, butter, and cheese

b

: a farm devoted to such production

3

: an establishment for the sale or distribution chiefly of milk and milk products

4

: milk from a cow or other domestic animal (such as a goat)

also : food (such as ice cream, cheese, or yogurt) made primarily of or from milk

dairy adjective

dairy products

Examples of dairy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Nor have the goats turned up at any of the local dairies or at a slaughterhouse, said Det. —Jireh Deng, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2024

May 4 is National Star Wars Day and fans of the franchise can celebrate with a special item that can be found in the dairy aisle or your local grocery store. —Gabe Hauari, USA TODAY, 22 Apr. 2024

In one instance, Kaiser says, a dairy checkoff ad that would have insulted nondairy spreads was vetoed. —Tim Forster, Bon Appétit, 16 Apr. 2024

Our research shows that between 2016 and 2023, the top 58 U.S.-based financiers poured more than $134 billion into meat, dairy, and feed corporations. —Monique Mikhail, Fortune, 12 Apr. 2024

The message described how a dairy farm worker in Texas had contracted H5N1, the highly infectious strain of avian influenza, or bird flu, that’s currently circling worldwide. —David Cox, WIRED, 11 Apr. 2024

The unlikely spread among cattle and one dairy worker has scientists looking through the data to better understand this spillover. —Will Stone, NPR, 11 Apr. 2024

The dairy worker had caught the virus, apparently, from cattle. —David Cox, WIRED, 11 Apr. 2024

Both North Carolina and South Dakota have detected the virus in dairy herds, bringing the total number of states affected to eight. —Will Stone, NPR, 11 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English deierie, dayerye, borrowed from Anglo-French deyerie, daerie, from Middle English deie, daie "woman in charge of milking and making butter and cheese" (going back to Old English dǣge "female baker, female servant," going back to Germanic *daigjōn—whence also Old Norse deigja "female servant"— derivative of *daiga- dough) + Anglo-French -erie -ery (after botelerie "wine cellar," paneterie "bread shop, pantry")

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing dairy

• dairy cattle

Kids Definition

dairy

noun

ˈde(ə)r-ē 

da(ə)r-

plural dairies

1

: a place where milk is kept and butter or cheese is made

2

: a farm devoted to the production of milk

3

: a company that sells milk and milk products

4

: milk from a cow or other domestic animal (as a goat)

also : food (as ice cream, cheese, or yogurt) made primarily of or from milk